~ An Edmonton-based movie blog

Category Archives: Editorials

2018 was not a good year. For the world. So another bad year then. Again.

2018 is the year that James Gunn got fired for all the wrong reasons. 2018 is the year that Daredevil got cancelled. It’s the year that the Saga comicbook went on hiatus, that the Tide Pod Challenge got into gear, that Kanye kept saying things, that normal people learned who Logan Paul is. 2018 is the year that Anthony Bourdain died. 2018 is the year that Aretha Franklin died. 2018 is the year that f*cking Stan Lee died. 2018 is another year where Trump remained in office, which, in some very literal cases, meant that some people died that under normal circumstances, probably wouldn’t have (to say nothing of ‘shouldn’t have’), and while none of us want this blog about movies from an Edmonton perspective to get political, it’s impossible to ignore that a world with Donald Trump as President of the United States is the kind of thing that leaves none of us untouched, and as long as it stays this way there are going to be a lot of things that will keep going wrong in the worst, most evil and selfish and thoughtless and yet stupidest and laziest ways possible. And for us here at GOO Reviews, that meant 2018 was a year that kind of got away from us in terms of reviews coverage. For that we apologize, though it’s an apology accompanied with no guarantee that things, on that front, will get better. Continue reading →

The year 2017 brought us five new and very different superhero movies (seven if you count LEGO Batman and Power Rangers), a new mainline Star Wars movie that’s good partially because it’s divisive, some really great, deeply emotional indie movies, and… well, that’s the kind of stuff we get every year actually. For all of us sweaty nerds, we are truly living in a wonderland of delights, with movies about ideas and concepts we never thought we’d see on screen. And for you those of you out there bemoaning the current state of the movie industry, you’re not wrong, at least not totally, but you are being willfully blind and dismissive. There are still plenty of great, introspective, emotionally resonant movies out there, and, believe it or not, some of those movies are about superheroes. Continue reading →

In these dark days of new Presidents, #fakenews, and #alternativefacts, we here at GOO Reviews thought it important that we all slow down for a minute, take a deep breath, and contemplate what’s really important: Batman.

Now we’re not sure exactly when it happened, whether it was a broader shift in society or if what Thom wrote about Batman in his review of Batman v Superman is true and it’s just a natural part of growing up, but at some point we the people got sick of Superman and took on Batman as our favourite superhero, and it’s a title the Dark Knight Detective’s been running away with ever since. Continue reading →

Look, we know you have a lot of places to go to get your “Top 10 Lists” on. Hell, there are entire publishing industries built on them. But we’re glad you’re here anyway, however many or few of you there may be, to share in our year at the movies.

To be clear, what follows is only the movies we, after roundtable discussion and voting, liked best. We’re not claiming these are the best, there are probably at least a few 2016 movies that are technically better, and there are certainly many that are more acclaimed. You might even hate some of the movies in our Top 10. That’s great! That means you care! This is just what we liked, the 10 movies we liked best this year, the ones that gave us the highest highs and the lowest lows, the ones that made us feel and meant the most to us — the brightests of the bunch. Continue reading →

So first of all, some site news — GOO Reviews is going on hiatus for retooling.

We’re looking at a website redesign (don’t worry, we still don’t know enough coding to go beyond just picking a different template), a change in our grading scale, some structural alterations to our review format, and a bunch of other improvements we haven’t really thought through because we’re such big fans of overpromising and underdelivering.

We’ll be back in August, but in the meantime, here’s my reaction to the just-released Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Comic-Con trailer. Continue reading →

To some people, love doesn’t exist unless you acknowledge it in front of other people.

Valentine’s Day images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

Ah, Valentine’s Day: that most beloved or most hated day of the year, depending on your relationship status and whether or not you’re happy about it. When I was younger I used to dress all in black and declare that I was mourning the death of St. Valentine, a tradition that stopped short the first year I actually had a date that day. Because what’s life without double standards?

Like many holidays, Valentine’s Day is a time that draws out different reactions in different people. You might be in a brand-new relationship, a little shy but excited to see where it goes.

Maybe you’re a happily married couple of 20 years with two or three kids, thinking, “Gosh, life is pretty great right now.” Or (hopefully not) you might be celebrating your 50th anniversary and getting the uncomfortable thought that this other person has suddenly become a stranger to you.

But this isn’t restricted to Valentine’s Day: these scenarios merely fit in with the theme because, what, it’s a holiday to celebrate love? So’s Christmas, if you’re doing it right (because Jesus was born in the summer). So’s Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, if you’re on good terms with yours. Heck, so’s Halloween, if you like your kids and want them to be happy with obscene amounts of candy.